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Jan-Christian Sorensen
Contributing Writer

THE West Vancouver
Fire department is
looking to extinguish a
burning issue in the
community.

Decorative clay patio
heaters, called) “chimin
are posing cn increasing ris
to homeowner

The ped patio
heaters ty measure 3-4

tin height. They can be
purchased at many home
improvement and garden
stores and retail in the $200
range.

Made in) Mexico. the
chiminea is designed for
warmer, southwestern cli-
mates with little moisture.

Because the heaters are
sun-dried and not kiln-dried,
they are still fairly porous and
will absorb moisture quite
rapidly. When a fire is fit, the
water will often turn to
steam, expand and push the
clay apart.

In some es, that will
lead to cracking, but in oth-
ers, the entire chiminea can

Friday, July 21, 2000 — North Shore News - 5

Ciay heaters pose danger

“These heaters are made for ambience
only. They’re fine for drier places, but
not here on the North Shore.

— West Vancouver fire prevention
captain Martin Ernst

collapse in on itself.

tf the heater still contains
burning oor smouldering
embers, said West Vancouver
tire prevention captain Martin
Ernst, that can lead toa verv
dangerous situation.

Just lest weekend, a
chiminea was responsible tor
over $25,000 in damage to a
home in the Rockridge Road
area of West Vancouver.

It was) carly Saturda
morning when homeowr
er awoke to discover the deck
adjacent to his swimming
pool ablaze. He suppressed

with a garden hose
fighters arrived and
fully extinguished the fire,

Inspectors discovered the
shattered remnants of a
chiminea — used the night
betore -—~ buried below the
rubble of the deck.

“We suspect the unit
crumbled on itself due to
water expansion in the clay
and then burned through,”
said Ernst, who said the our-
come could have been much
Worse,

“Our coucern is that if this
homeowner hadn't been
alerted sooner, the fire would
have reached his house and
then we've got a huge prob-
lem,” he said.

He also said chat the
heaters do not appear to have
been tested or approved by
any standards agencies

Setting a fire in’ the
chiminea also contravenes a
municipal no-burning bylaw
which bans open flames out
of doors. Some exceptions,

however. are made tor com-
munity festivals or celebra-
fons.

“These heaters are made
for ambience only” said
Ernst. “Thev're tine for drier

es, but not here on the
North Shore ~

Ernst said the department
has had a number of calls
regarding clay heater collaps-
es.

“We're looking at how we
could let people have these
and use them legally, because
it’s not illegal to buy them
and it’s not illegal to have
one. I's just iegal te burn in
them.”

He suggested people use
the clay heaters for decorative
purposes only and perhaps
use the chiminea to display

used for burning,”

“They're very nice to look at,
but it just doesn’t seem that
they're safe and we'd like to
nip it in the bud betore we
have a major problem on our

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NEWS >hoto Paul McGrath
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displays the shattered remains of a clay patio heater.

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